Health informatics, healthcare quality and safety, and healthcare simulation: continuing the discussion to advance healthcare operations

ABSTRACT

This issue is the second in the series to explore the intersection of health informatics, healthcare quality and safety, and healthcare simulation. The uses of all three domains to advance healthcare operations has been diverse and intentional across a variety of domestic and international organisations. This issue focuses primarily on studies that use throughput modelling and system modelling. Findings from this special collection of papers demonstrate the value of modelling techniques and their role in predicting and enhancing healthcare operations.

KEYWORDS:

• Health Informatics
• healthcare Quality and Safety
• healthcare Simulation
• healthcare Operations

Organisational leaders are starting to consider the value of modelling to simulate environments that impact operations. One example of this might be using simulation to position health information technology (IT) so that healthcare worker and patient safety are not compromised. The value is seen in terms of expansion of choices and inviting innovation where various models can be explored and then the best of those models are open for consideration. This process also allows for a more diverse stakeholder group to be involved in decision-making, such as the clinician using the health IT.

The papers in this issue focus on various types of optimisation and systems modelling to impact diverse healthcare environments. Assad and Spiegel’s case study reports on simulation modelling to help determine staffing configurations based on variations with patient flow. The process allowed for modelling a variety of scenarios to reach operational optimisation in the emergency department. Ordu, Demir, and Tofallis use modelling techniques to simulate situations in the emergency department. The simulations allow the organisation to better understand situation specific demands and capacity. For busy emergency departments that are often both at or near capacity and likely to receive mass casualty incidents, this type of modelling provides a visualisation of processes to increase throughput, maximise patient safety, and streamline operations.

Other papers in this issue consider system modelling. All too often, systems contribute to patient safety issues across healthcare organisations. When modelling is used to plan health IT systems, whether it be architecture, use and placement in special environments, or understanding risk/reward with innovations, the value to the origanisation can impact economics and mitigate risk. For example, Thissen and Mason illuminate how risk classifications impact system architecture relative to health survey data. These findings can be applied across other system architecture environments. Sabounchi, Sharareh, Irshaidat, and Atav use geographical information systems (GIS) to simulate healthcare access across underserved populations to develop a decision support system to inform policymakers about how various scenarios unfold and impact access to care. The final paper in this two-issue special issue by Hauerwaas and Weisenfeld demonstrates the potential of systemic innovations in lung transplantation systems. WhileG this study is specific to lung transplantation, it demonstrates the potential of how various innovations impact transplant systems, and may have value in other organ transplant systems.

This special issue was brought about due to the increased use of health informatics, healthcare quality and safety, and healthcare simulation and the lack of literature at the intersection of the three disciplines. Future research across the triad of health informatics, healthcare quality and safety, and healthcare simulation could benefit from referencing this special issue to understand how these historically independent domains come together to contribute to healthcare organisation success.